South America is positioned to be a key market for smart grid infrastructure investment over the next decade. The region’s power sector is plagued by pervasive electricity theft, poor reliability and operational inefficiencies. Utilities in South America are now looking to smart grid infrastructure to solve these problems and large-scale deployments are already underway. The region will invest $38.1bn in modernizing its power infrastructure from 2015-2025, according to a new study published by Northeast Group, LLC.”Brazil is by far the largest market in the region for smart grid investment,” said Ben Gardner, President of Northeast Group. “After several false starts, the country is now beginning large-scale deployments. In just the past year, Brazilian utilities have announced deployments of over 3m smart meters and will invest $25.6bn over the next ten years.”

South America is poised to become a key market for smart grid infrastructure in a decade, a report says.Electricity theft, lack of reliability of the grid and operational inefficiencies are constant threats before the energy market in South America. By some estimates, about 9 percent of electricity produced in South America is stolen. In specific territories this may exceed 30 percent. According to a report published by Northeast Group, utilities in South America have started investing in large-scale smart grid projects to remedy these ills plaguing the sector.

Many of the cars are more like enclosed bicycles, and virtually none of them could operate on public roads or highways.

But the Shell Eco-Marathon offers some useful lessons for the more than 100 high-school and college teams that compete in it–many of them having little to do with the cars themselves.

Held under the harsh overhead lights of Detroit’s Cobo Center convention hall–more often seen as the lavishly decorated home to the North American International Auto Show every January–the competition brought together competitors from North, Central, and South America.

Not surprisingly, the Internet of Things is making a big splash here at CES 2015. As part of that push, BeeWi, a company better known for making various wireless products, is showing off its home automation platform. The BeeWi platform has been available in Europe, Canada and parts of South America for some time now, but the company announced that it’s ready to bring it over to the US. In similar fashion to Belkin’s WeMo line, BeeWi’s home automation offerings include a mobile application and an array of modular sensors and trackers.

A new study found that two-thirds of South American electricity generation comes from renewable hydropower, making it one of the cleanest power sectors in the world. The downside is that there are significant problems with electric transmission and distribution infrastructure. The region’s distribution loss rate of 15 percent—a result of theft and power outages—is the highest in the world.